By MICKEY NOAH, NAMB Communications NEW ORLEANS (BP) – The Rachel Sims Baptist Mission and the Carver Baptist Center – now owned and operated by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board – are to close effective Dec. 31. Effective Jan. 1, 2011, ownership of both properties will transfer to the New Orleans Baptist Association. “The closing of the two ministry centers and the property transfer reflects NAMB’s process over the last 12 years of giving NAMB-owned properties to local Baptist associations or churches,” said Richard Leach, the mission board’s team leader for servant/ministry evangelism in Alpharetta, Ga. The New Orleans Baptist Association (NOBA, formerly the Baptist Association of Greater New Orleans) is an association of 107 Southern Baptist churches in the New Orleans area. [img_assist|nid=6826|title=Rachel Sims Baptist Mission in New Orleans is to close Dec. 31 and the property transferred to New Orleans Baptist Assoc.|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=65]“Along with many others, I am grieving the loss of our mission centers in New Orleans,” said David Crosby, pastor of First Baptist Church in New Orleans. “Rachel Sims was a member of our church in 1910 when she founded the … [Read more...]

By PHILIP TIMOTHY, Message Staff Writer SHREVEPORT – Rod Masteller has listened closely and he’s encouraged by what he’s heard. In the last year, Masteller, pastor of Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport, has attempted to meet with “as many pastors and directors of mission as possible,” in his official capacity as president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention. His travels have kept him on the road and, at times, away from his church, but he said he believes it has been more than worth it. [img_assist|nid=6139|title=Dr. Rod Masteller|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=61|height=100]“It has been a sort of tug of war trying to do both – be pastor and president,” Masteller said. “But I wanted to hear from these men, pray with them, and encourage them. “I have tried my best to travel to as many parts of the state as I could and make as many associational meetings as my schedule would allow,” Masteller said. “At each stop, I brought a simple message of hope and encouragement – we serve the God of the universe and He wants our churches to be on fire for Him and doing things that bring Him honor and glory. All our plans without the power of God are useless.” Elected in November 2009, Masteller is open to a second … [Read more...]

By BRIAN BLACKWELL, Special to the Baptist Message MONROE – Leroy Higginbotham will never forget hearing the electrifying news on the radio Dec. 7, 1941 – a day that changed his life and the future of millions of Americans. A high school senior at the time, Higginbotham listened as the newscast reported Japanese forces had bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. [img_assist|nid=6845|title=Leroy Higginbotham of Monroe displays the medals, Purple Heart and battle ribbons, he received as a U.S. Marine in World War II|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]Immediately, Higginbotham asked his mom if he could join the Marine Corps, as he was not yet of legal age to enter the armed forces. Four days later, he was sworn in to fight in World War II. “I knew it was something I had to do,” said Higginbotham, a member of Loch Arbor Baptist Church since 1946. “I wanted to go out on an adventure and fight for the country.” Higginbotham was one of more than 16.1 million military personnel involved in World War II. About 2 million remain alive today; they’re dying at a rate of about 900 a day. Higginbotham spoke with the Baptist Message one recent weekday. His pastor, Andy Myrick of Loch Arbor Baptist Church, was … [Read more...]

By John Yeats, Director of LBC Communications In the last half of this decade there appears to be a discovery like that of a lost pearl, a nugget of truth hidden but now revealed in these latter days. The discovery is a renewed application of Matthew 24:14, “This good news of the Kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.” (HCSB) [img_assist|nid=6830|title=John Yeats Director of LBC Communications|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=79|height=100]Seems the news of this discovery was heard first in Richmond, then in Nashville and throughout the Southern Baptist Convention. Announce it far and wide that once every nation (ethno-linguistic group) hears the gospel message, then all the signs are fulfilled and the Lord Jesus will return, the Day of the Lord will appear. This theme has been repeated in many sectors of Southern Baptist life. For example, in September, the SBC Executive Committee heard SBC president Bryant Wright appeal to the Southern Baptist Convention and state conventions to “re-prioritize” their outreach to the nations. “What Christ is concerned about is that we preach the gospel to every people group on earth,” Wright said. “That means that … [Read more...]

By Jake Roudkovski, Director of Supervised Ministry New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Editor’s note: In part 1, Dr. Roudkovski looked at the history of revivals in the Southern Baptist Convention. That column remains available on www.baptistmessage.com. (Search for Dr. Roudkovski’s name.) To recap: The term revival is defined as the sovereign movement of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in revitalizing the believers in Jesus Christ to a more vital spiritual life, work, and witness. Revival meetings refer to a period of time set aside by a church or churches for the purpose of spiritual revitalization and/or evangelism. … In a classic resource on the history of revival meetings in Southern Baptist life, Chuck Kelley asserted that revivalism was one of the major factors that contributed to the enormous growth of the denomination in the past. … In 1866, the SBC instructed the Home Mission Board [now NAMB] to make evangelism its major work and promote a comprehensive system of evangelism, including the appointment of evangelists. … [img_assist|nid=6756|title=Jake Roudkovski|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=82|height=100]C.E. Matthews’ plan, when implemented in the convention [in the late 1930s], ushered in … [Read more...]

By Bill Warren, Ph.D., NOBTS Professor of New Testament and Greek Question: I’ve heard that Jesus descended into hell after he died and before he was resurrected but can’t find this in the Bible. Is this biblical? If not, where did the idea come from? Bill Warren responds: This idea is often based on the Apostles’ Creed that states that Jesus “descended into hell.” (Other early church creeds do not mention this). Later in church history, some pushed the image to mean “hell” in a negative sense and so developed elaborate art and literature depicting Jesus actually going to the place of the eternally damned, as seen in Dante’s Inferno. [img_assist|nid=6120|title=Bill Warren NOBTS Professor of New Testament and Greek|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=75|height=100] The actual wording in the Apostles’ Creed is that Jesus descended into “the underworld,” commonly called “Hades” or “the place of the dead,” not “hell” as in the place of the damned. “Hades” refers to the abode of the dead with both positive and negative options existing, with the positive emphasis applying to Jesus as indicated in his statement to the repentant thief: Today you will be with me in paradise – Luke 23:43), thereby showing that both would be in … [Read more...]

ALEXANDRIA – The move Oct. 26 of this year’s Nov. 21-22 Youth Evangelism Celebration from the Cajundome in Lafayette back to the Rapides Coliseum in Alexandria has been accomplished with only minor issues. “Only one or two churches had some minor difficulty changing their hotel reservations,” said Kevin Boles, Louisiana Baptist Convention youth ministry strategist. LBC leadership along with legal counsel, due to contract issues, made the difficult decision to return the LBC’s largest event to its traditional site. “We’ve been dealing with the Cajundome for 18 months, but we simply were not able to come to terms with the contract in a timely fashion,” Boles said. “They’re great people. Lafayette is a great city. It was a heartbreaking decision, but the Lord has given confirmation and affirmation in significant areas.” Two of those “areas” includes the positive response of churches to the sudden change, less than a month before YEC was to take place, as well as the availability of the Rapides Coliseum itself, Boles said. “The churches have responded very well to the change in venue,” the youth ministry strategist said. “They have shown a sweet spirit of cooperation.  Immediate contact was made to any church that had … [Read more...]